The Loss of a Spitfire
by polarbear1355
Summary: He had hoped that this wouldn't happen. He had prayed and wished night and day, every second that she was gone, he sat by the door, waiting for her to come home. But she didn't. And she never would. Character death. Angst. Spifire.


**Yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to be working on The Journey of the Lost Arrow. But in the light of the newest episode summary and the feelings that came with it, my horrible brain sprouted this. Now a lot of people are saying that Artemis is going to die. **

**And I kind of agree with them. **

**I think they've been preparing us for this. They keep bringing up the number 16. OVER AND OVER. They've brought it up. And even the time and date in the prieview are a refernce to the number 16. 19 - 3(March) is 16. 8 +8 is 16. the date is March 19th, 8:12. But would could 16 be refering to?**

**FAILSAFE.**

**Episode 16. The dates being 8-16 16:01 and 16:21**

**Aliens invade earth. The Justice League is no longer on earth. Dick Grayson is leader. **

**Artemis dies.**

**Sound familiar?**

**I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. **

**And this is what resulted from those feelings.**

**So I'm just going to go eat a jar of nuetella and cry in the corner until tomorrow.**

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

He knew it was a bad idea. He knew it was a terrible idea that would only end badly. Nothing like that ever ends good. So why did they still do it? Why did she go? If she had just stayed like he had asked her too...

He had hoped that this wouldn't happen. He had prayed and wished night and day, every second that she was gone, he sat by the door, waiting for her to come home.

But she didn't. And she never would.

And now, there was nothing but pain. So much heart wrenching pain that left him breathless. Pain that tore his heart and ripped it, pain that set his stomach aflame and pain that would never go away. There was nothing but tears that consumed him and the pain that ran through the streaming sobs. Never before had such pain inflicted the young man before.

And it was all because of a loss of a spitfire.

HIS Spitfire. His blonde haired beauty that loved him for all his faults and wouldn't let him get away with nothing. His strong willed archer that no matter the danger, all ways faced a mission with determination. Determination that was be the death of her.

Death. That word alone sent chills down his spine. But _her_ death? That left a shaky feeling in his hands and a nauseated feeling in his stomach. Her death left an empty feeling in his heart, one that would never be replaced by anything or anyone.

Wally West was lost down the rabbit hole, his mind slowly fading away like the Cheshire Cat. And more than anything, he wanted to join Alice in Wonderland.

That was how Nightwing found him, curled up in a ball on his couch next to his—their pet, Nelly. The brokenhearted man was asleep, muttering nonsense things that could only have to do with the grief consuming him. For once, Nelly wasn't sleeping when Nightwing entered their apartment. The dog lost as lost as his owner, staring at the bedroom door, as if waiting for the blonde archer to walk out at any second.

Nightwing couldn't help but feel guilt rise up in him in the form of tears. How could he not? He did this. He took the only girl his best friend ever loved away from him. He caused this traumatized state in his best friend. He caused the death of a teammate, a friend, a family member.

He caused the loss of a spitfire.

"Wally," Nightwing's voice cracked, his grief shining forward once more. He swallowed, and once more called out to the broken man. "Wally," He was afraid to say more. But still, he did not wake, so Nightwing reached forward, and lightly shook his shoulder.

Big mistake.

The moment those green eyes opened and lay on the masked superhero in front of him, there was nothing but pain in anger laced in those once happy eyes. With speed that Nightwing had forgotten Wally had, the former speedster hero had him pinned up against the wall beside the TV, his arm holding down his throat while his other hand was ready in a fist.

"_WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"_ Wally all but screamed in his face. Nightwing winced and opened his mouth to explain, but he was cut off. "_YOU KNEW THAT WE WERE TRYING TO LEAVE THAT LIFE BEHIND. YOU KNEW THAT SOMETHING BAD COULD HAPPEN TO HER. YOU KNEW THAT I DIDN'T WANT HER TO GO. AND YOU STILL LET HER GO!"_

"Wally, I—" A punch to the face cut him off. He had honestly expected Wally to keep him up against the wall, punching the pain and anger away. But he only punched once. But he knew that it probably wouldn't be the last punch thrown by the speedster by the end of tonight.

Wally continued screaming at the former Boy Wonder, but Nightwing only understood about half of it. He couldn't tell what were words and what was senseless screaming. But Nightwing just stood there, taking the screams until his friend collapsed to his knees, a sobbing hot mess.

"And I never even got to ask her…" Nightwing heard that part of Wally's mumblings. He instantly darted to his friend, a questioning look filling his face.

"Ask her what, Wally?" What? He was a bat. He was curious.

Still sniffling, Wally got up from the floor and disappeared into his room, before returning, still sniffling, with a little black box in his hand.

_No._ Nightwing felt his stomach sink to the floor. No, surely not. Surely this couldn't get worse. The feeling of ice cold dread seeped through him.

Then Wally chucked it at him. He of course caught it, but he fumbled a little bit opening it. And when he did, he felt guilt and grief wash over him.

It was a ring. A beautifully crafted diamond ring. A ring that was meant for her. His spitfire.

"You were going to ask her to marry you," Nightwing knew he was stating the obvious. But he had to be sure. Wally's confirming nod caused Nightwing's eyes to briefly blur with tears. Sighing, the hero tore off his mask to reveal tearing blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," Dick Grayson said, not daring to look at the matching tears in the green eyes across the room. He lightly tossed the ring back to the grieving man, and then, just like that he was gone through the same open window that he came through.

Wally West sank to his knees once more, and allowed himself to be consumed in grief once more.

He would never get to ask her to be his bride. She would never get the chance to be his bride. They would never graduate college together. They would never get to start a family together. They would never get to grow old together.

Wally was overwhelmed by the pain that seeped through him. Overwhelmed by the loss of the one that he loved most.

The loss of his spitfire.


End file.
